WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT. 



Copy 1 gjjgjl ^Tjg Unfinislied ObaTisk stand a Monument of National 

Disgrace and Ifational Dishonor ? 



.]\ 



SPEECHES 



HON. NORTON P. CHIPMAN, OF THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA, HON. R. C. MCCORMICK, OF ARIZONA, 
HON. JASPER D. WARD, OF ILLINOIS, 
HON. JOHN B. STORM, OF PENNSYL- 
VANIA, HON. J. B. SENER, OF 
VIRGINIA, HON. S. S. COX, 
OF NEW YORK, 



HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES, 

JUNE 4, 1874. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1874. 



WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT. 



Copy 1 gjjgjj t^e Unfinislied Obslisk stand a MDnument of N"ational 

Diso:race and National Dishonor ? 



SPEECHES 



HON. NORTON P. CHIPMAN, OF THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA, HON. R. C. MCCORMICK, OF ARIZONA, 
HON. JASPER D. WARD, OF ILLINOIS, 
HON. JOHN B. STORM, OF PENNSYL- 
VANIA, HON. J. B. SENER, OF 
VIRGINIA, HON. S. S. COX, 
OF NEW YORK, 



HOUSE OF EEPPtESENTATIVES, 



JtJ:N^E 4, 1S74. 



J\ 



^k^' 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1874. 



Fsoz 

■4 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. NORTON P. OH IP MAN. 



The House haviiis; nndcr consideratidu the report of the Special Committee on 
the Washins'tnii Katioual Moinunent, and also the report in relation to a monu- 
ment to Mary, the mother of Washington — 

Mr. CHIPMAN said : 

Mr. Speakek: Seventy-four years ago, on the 23d of last December, 
the Congress of the United States, in response to a universal feel- 
ing throughout the nation, resolved to erect a marble monument at 
the capital, so designed as to commemorate the great events of the 
military and political life of George Washington. 

The whole people were in mourning for the loss of the man who by 
common consent was regarded as the Father of his Country ; the man 
of whom it was said, without exciting the envy of a living soul, that 
he was " first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his 
countrymen." 

When Congress resolved to commemorate the great events of this 
man's life, they imposed a solemn as well as pleasing duty upon all 
who were to come after them until that duty should be performed. 
At this distance of time, looking back along the path of our history, 
and remembering the vicissitudes through which efforts to carry out 
that pledge have passed, and turning my face toward that unfinished 
column, standing with bowed head upon the banks of the Potomac, 
I wonder what great and stirring events must have interposed to pre- 
vent the consummation of this sacred duty. 

George Washington died on the 14th day of December, 1799. No 
man who has ever lived occupied a larger space in history or had a 
greater and more salutary influence upon the lives of men. Upon his 
death not only the Avhole American people, but the civilized world, 
mourned his loss as one of the greatest and best of earth. The Presi- 
dent, Mr. Adams, announced the distressing event to Congress in a 
message, in which he speaks of the purity of Washington's character 
and the long series of services to his country as having rendered him 
illustrious throughout the world. The letter which brought the sad 
intelligence to the President, and which was transmitted by him to 
Congress, was written from Mount Vernon, December 15, by Tobias 
Lear, who was with Washington in his last hours. The letter states : 

His last scene corresponded with the whole tenor of his life ; not a groan nor a 
complaint escaped him in extreme distress. With perfect resignation, and with 
full possession of his reason, he closed his well-spent life. 

There is to me, Mr. Speaker, a melancholy pleasure in reviewing 
this striking event of our early history, and I dare say the House will 
not feel the half-hour misspent which is given to revive the recollec- 
tion of this now almost obscure passage. 

I shall not myself speak particularly of the life and character of 
Washington ; but what I shall say upon that theme I ])refer shall be 
from the lips of those who were his associates in arms, his companions 
in the struggles of our ejirly revolutionary period. 

Both Houses of Congress waited upon the President to condole with 



]iiin on the distressing event. In their address to the President, the 
Senate said : 

With patriotic piido we review the life of our Washington, and compare him witli 
those of oUur ((ninti ien who liavc been pre-eminent in fame. Ancient and modern 
names are dimiiiislud liefore him. Greatness and guilt have too often been allied ; 
but his fame i.s wider than it is brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abashed 
at tlu^ majisty of his virtue. It reproved the intemperance of their ambition, and 
d;nl<ened the splemior of victory. The .scene is closed, and we are no longer anx- 
ious lest niisfoitune .should sully his glory. He has traveled on to the end of his 
journey and carried with him an increasing weight of honor; he has deposited it 
safely where misfortune cannot tarnish it, where malice cannot blast it. Favored 
of heaven, he deiiarted without exliibiting the weakness of humanity Magnan- 
imous in death, the darkness of the grave could not ob.scure his briglitness. * •* * 
Lot his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic general, the patriotic 
statesman, and' the virtuous saj:ce. Let them teach their children never to forget 
that the fi'uit of his labors and his example are their inheritance. 

In reply, among other thingSj Mr. Adams said : 

Tn the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy event, yon 
"will permit me only to say that I have seen him in the days of adversity, in .some of 
the scenes of his deepest distress and most tryins perplexities; I have iilso attended 
him in his liigliest tlivation and most prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration 
of his wisdom, modrration. and constancy. ***** 

Among all our oiigiii;il associates in that memorable League of the Continent in 
1774, wliicli lias expressed tlie .sovereign will of a free nation in America, he was the 
only one remaiuiug in the General Government. 

And, in conclusion, added : 

His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, 
citizens, and men, iu)t oidy in the i)risiiit age, but in future generations as long as 
our history shall be read. ' If a Trajan found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never 
■want biographers, eulogists, or historians. ^ 

It was a proper thing ; indeed, les.s could hardly have been done 
than to resolve to erect a monnnient worthy of the character of such 
a man. And it perliaps may be as well for me to occupy my time 
chiefly in presenting to the Hon.se the vicissitudes through which the 
effort to erect a momiiiient has ])assod, leaving other gentlemen to 
treat other branches of the su1>ject. It is an instnu-tive chapter; 
and while it carries with it a lesson not flattering to our patriotism, 
it may serve to point a moral, if it does not adorn a tale. 

In announcing the deatli of Washington to the House, Mr. Mar- 
shall closed an elotiucnt address by submitting a series of resolutions 
befitting the occasion. One of these res(duti()ns provided for the 
ai>])ointment of ajointcomiiiittce of both Houses to report measures 
suitable to the occasion ; tind in that resolution occurs the memora- 
ble words, applicable to Washington only, declaring that these 
measures shall be expressive of the profound sorrow with which 
Congress is penetrated in the lo.ss of a citizen "first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'' * The Senate con- 

* As the Annals of Congress show that Mr. ^Marshall made the report, a question 
of the authorship of these words arose in my mind. A friend, learned in patriotic 
lore, relieved my mind in the following letter: 

Dkak Siu: I find myself confirmed in the recollection expressed to you last even- 
ing in regard to the authorship of the celebrated word.s, "First iii war, first in 
peace," (fee. 

At page 441 of volume 2 of Marshall's Life of Wasliington, edition of 1839, there 
is this foot-note, referring to the resolution in which the words occur: 

" These resolutions were jjrejiared by ( ieneral Lee, who, hap]>ening not to bo in his 
place when the melancholy int<'!li'rence was received and first mentioned in the 
House, placed them in the hiunls oftlie member (Marshall) wiio moved them." 

It wa« certainly honorable in Judgti Marshall thus to secure to their real author 
the ciedit of the.se resolutions, which would otherwi.se have been given to himself. 

J U . 

^r.W 22. tf'74. 



ciirred in this resolution, the committee was appointed, and among 
other things done was the passage unanimously upon the same day 
of an act to erect a marble monument to Washington. 

May 8, of the same session, Mr. Lee, of the committee on the part 
of the House, reported in favor of carrying out the resolution of Con- 
gress, passed in 1783, respecting an equestrian statue of Washington, 
and also to erect a marble monument to carry out the act of 1799. A 
motion was made to amend the report aud carried, substituting a 
mausoleum for the statue and monument j)roposed. On the next day 
Mr. Evans, from the committee, reported a bill for erecting a mauso- 
leum, which was to be one huntlied feet square at the base and of pro- 
portionate height. The bill came before the House on final passage 
May 10, and passed — yeas 54, nays 19. On reaching the Senate, it 
was postponed, May 12, to the following session. 

Congress assembled on the 17th of November in its second session, 
and on the 26th Mr. Lee moved a committee, with instructions to re- 
port measures to "carry into execution the resolution of Congress, 
l>assed the last session, in commemoration of the great events, mili- 
tary and political, in the life of George Washington;" and on the 2d 
of December Mi\ Lee reported a bill to erect a mausoleum. The bUl 
directed that it should be of marble, erected in the city of Washing- 
ton, under the superintendence of the foiu' Secretaries. The question 
was considered in Committee of the Whole December 5, when a mo- 
tion was made to substitute a marble monument to be erected in the 
Capitol building ; but Mr. Lee reminded the House that at the last ses- 
sion, after a long debate, they had declared in favor of a mausoleum ; 
and that as no reasons had been assigned for a change of opinion, he 
hoiked they would persevere in the deliberate result of their judgment. 

It was urged by Mr. Griswold that — 

It was the object of the bill to raise a monument which sbonhl last for ages, and 
which slionld be a perpetual memorial of the gi-atitude of America. Siicli would 
not be the case if the proposition made by the gentleman from Korth Carolina 
should be adopted. The monument proposed by him might be broken and destroyed 
by a lawless mob ; and for his part he would not consent to laise such a monument 
to the memory of a man who had deserved so well of his country. * * * It is 
true that it will not perpetuate the fame of Wasliiiinton ,- his fanie required noth- 
ing which we could do to give it perpetuity ; but it ^vill pcriictuate the giatitudo of 
the country. * * * It was undoubtedly a subject of sentiment; and subjects of 
such a kind must be guided by feeling. Various ojiinion therefore may naturally 
be expected. His opinion was that the national sentiuuuit called for the erection of 
a structure to correspond in size with the character of the man to whom it wa.s 
raised. 

Mr. Lee, who had been a companion in arms with Washington, and 
was the chosen orator of Congress on the occasion of his death, came 
to the support of his bill with a stirring, patriotic appeal to the 
House, in which he said that should this honorable spirit, kindled by 
an enthusiasm in the virtues and talents of our departed benefactor, 
subside and be chilled by the adoption of the amendment, he would 
condole with the House, and would rather they would be silent for- 
ever than disgrace themselves and their country by so subordinate an 
act. And, rising with his theme and in glowing eloquence, he con- 
tinued : 

It is true, sir, that the celebrity and the glory of "Washington hang not on onr 
plaudits. History will transmit to posterity the' luster of his fame, gUttoring with 
untarnished purity. It is not in our power' either to increase or diminish it. But, 
sir, we may imitate his virtues and his great example. We are deeply interested 
in holding them forth as illustrious models to our sons. Is there, then, I ask you, 
any other mode for perpetuating the memory of such transcendent virtues so strong, 
so impressive, as that which we propose 'I The grandeur of the pile we wish to raise 
will impress a sublime awe in all who behold it. It will survive the present gen- 
eration : it will receive the homage of our children's children, and they will learu 



that the tniost way to gain honor amid a free people is to be useful, to be Tir- 
tuous. 

This will not be the act of an individual. It will be the aet of a government, 
expressing the will of a great nation. Seize, thi^n, I pray yo", seize with rapture 
the occ<wion that is now )iifseiiti(l, thankful to the Supreme Disposer of Events for 
giving you the opportunity ft)r rearing some future Washington. This ia a gi-eat 
object. Frown, then, upoii all the little efforts made to defeat it. 

The House again, December 10, in Committee of the Whole, had 
the same bill under consideration. On this occasion many gentlemen 
participated in the debate. Mr. Claiborne, among others, said: 

That on a question which would not fail to excite the sensibility of every Ameri 
can heart it was a subject of great regret that a division of sentiment should arise 
and he urged the House to unite in the last act of attention which they proposed to 
show this venerable character. 

But while Mr. Claiborne urged — and in this the htiman nature in 
him is found repeated here and elsewhere daily — while he lu-ged the 
House to unite in their action, he spoke to convince them that it was 
their duty to build an ecpiestrian statue in accordance with the resolu- 
tion of the Continental Congress, utterly ignoring the pledge of the 
CongresH of which he was then a member. 

The committee agreed to inquire into his suggestion, as well as 
others, and arose and reported progress. 

Again, December 19, Mr. Lee reported to the House that the commit- 
tee had considered the several jnopositions made commemorative of 
the services of Washington, but that it adhered to its former report 
as to a mausoleum ; that they had maturely considered the merits of 
all the plans proposed and preferred the mausoleum, as well from its 
superior durability as cheapness, to any other. 

December 23 the question was again before the House in Commit- 
tee of the Whole, and a motion was made fixing the sum to be ap- 
propriated at $200,000. 

Mr. Smilie opposed it as a needless expenditure of money ; that no 
responsible architect or engineer had given security that the work 
could l)e accomplished for the sum named. 

Mr. Har[)cr rexdicd that the old story was again rung in their ears. 
He said : 

An object in itself highly important was proposed, and forscoth because it cost 
some money, on tlie ground of economy it must be rejected. ******* 

These, elaTuorous objections are well understood. Their sole object was ad cap- 
tniidiiiii riiliii)^:. to create alarm about what was termed useless expen.se. They were 
intended for notliing else. 

In looking over the Annals of Congress, disclosing discussion upon 
this question, Mr. Speaker, I am struck with the fact that men in 
those days did not difl'cr much from those of our times; but I think 
we may congratulate! ourselves Hint no nu-mber would seriously think 
for a moment of charging a fellow-member in these frank and manly 
days with opposing appropriations to catch the vulgar ear. 

In this particular at least, and a useful one it is, we may claim ex- 
emption from such base motives ! 

After these gcntlemou hafl mutually paid the customary parlia- 
mentary courtesies to each other, each denying that the other knew 
anything about tlte subject, the couunittee arose. 

Mr. Kutledge, in a brit^f appeal, brought back the House to the real 
question, reminding them that — 

When the man whose loss the world deplored departed from us we were all 
shroude.d witli sorrow; the mournful event awakened our deepest regret, and reso- 
lutions exprissive of the natiiuial affliction at his death and comiiH'mcirative of his 
services were iiuanimonsly passed by both Houses of Congress. Tliose resolutions 
were not carried into etlect o\viii>i to a disasireemont between the branches of the 



Legislature. iJfow, •when we propose to carry them into effect, objections are started 
to every measure offered ; objections that rise eternally in our horizon, which, when- 
ever we pursue, fly from our reach, and which, always moving in a circle, we can 
never overtake. 

Does it become the dignity of the House thus to be occupied with trifling objec- 
tiona on such a subject ? They had delayed too long to do what ought to have been 
done at once. 

The question was taken on filling the blank with $200,000 and car- 
ried, which was agreed to in the House. 

The bill was subsequently, January 1, 1801, engrossed, read a third 
time, and passed. The bill went to the Senate and was there in- 
definitely po8ti)oned. 

For fifteen years the annals of Congress do not show that grat- 
itude for the services of Washington had any abiding place in the 
hearts of the American people, and that such a man had ever lived 
one would doubt in perusing these pages. Except incidentally, his 
name is nowhere mentioned. Once in 1810, upon the death of his 
kinsman. Colonel William Washington, a spasm of patriotic feeUng 
seized upon a member of the House, and he moved a resolution in 
honor of the deceased ; but this ebullition of feeling was quickly 
suppressed, and, lest the contagion might spread and the memory be 
disturbed as to the buried monument, the resolution was rejected ; 
and afterward, when a feeling of compunction seized upon some 
who had so promptly sup^jressed the attempt to revive any recollec- 
tion of Washington, an ettbrt was made to expiinge the record so 
slighting to his family. It was refused, and the record kept as a 
warning to any who should hereafter attempt to honor the name. 

In 1816 Mr. Huger, who was on the committee in 1799, moved a joint 
committee to inquire as to how the act of 1799 could be carried out. 
The Senate concurred, but no report was ever made there that I can 
find. The House committee reported favorably to a monument. In 
moving the law Mr. Huger said, his heart sank Avithiu him as he re- 
called to mind the scenes he had once witnessed and in which he had 
personally acted a part on the floor of that Congress, which represents 
the American nation, on the death of this great man. He had often since 
thought with astonishment and more than regret of the a^iathy of the 
American people on this subject. The only action taken is recorded 
in the following ghastly, laconic language: " And that said bill be 
indefinitely postponed." And so this first effort for fift.een years to 
redeem an early j^ledge died in the deadly atmosphere of indefinite 
postxjoneraent — that upas which grew at the touch of congressional 
indifference, apathy, and disloyalty to the name and fame of a man 
whose loss had once moved not only the American people but the 
whole world with profound sorrow. 

In 1819 Mr. Goldsborough, in the Senate, moved a resolution to erect 
an equestrian statue to General Washington, which passed July 19. 
The House next day paid it the compluueut to read it twice and send 
it to the Committee of the Whole, where it took refuge under the um- 
brageous shade of forgetfulness and died the ignoble death of post- 
ponement. The memory of Washington was allowed to repose peaae- 
fuUy in oblivion until 1824, when Mr. James Buchanan, just in the 
House fresh from the old Keystone State, made an abortive attempt 
to convince Congress that by neglecting for so long a period to accom- 
plish the object of the act of 1799 it had subjected itself to the impu- 
tation of perfidy, as well as ingratitude. He said : 

"We made a solemn promise to the widowed partner of Washington and to the 
people of the United States by a legislative act that we would erect a monument to 
his memory. That distinguished lady has long slumbered with him in the grave, 
and this pledge has never been redeemed. 



i> 



He coutinuocl ; 



It is difficult to dcterniLnii wholhor this ucgloct be more impolitic or unjjratefiil. 
Every wise nation liaa \tiiU\ honors to tlii) mcniory of the men who have been the 
saviors of their country. Sculpture and painlin;:: have vied 'wltb each other in 
transmitting their iina;;oa and the menndy of thiir deeds to the remotest genera- 
tions. By these means the holy lire of virtuous emulation has been kiudlecT in the 
bosoms or the youth of succeeding ages. 

Mr. Buebaiian was a young member, and so far as the Annals of 
Congress sliow, he was tolerated by the House in this flight of fancy. 
On account of hisyouth and inexperience he was not reminded that the 
subject of his resolution had long since been consigned to oblivion 
and had become obsolete. If there was a member cotuageous enongh 
to take him aside and congratulate him the record does not show it ; 
but I can imagine the sardonic smile wliicli ovcispread the House as 
the resolution of the future occni)ant of Wasliiugton's seat was with- 
out ceremony " ordered to lie upon the table." 

I wish, Mr. Speaker, I could liud somewhere along this period a 
bright spot ; but as touching this holy duty it is all the blackness of 
darkness. 

I would close the book of this Congress if I had not resolved to 
spread before you all I have found on this interesting subject. 

At the same session, Mr. Johnson moved in the Senate to purchase 
the equestrian portrait of Washington by Rembrandt Peale, provided 
it should cost no more than $5,000. A similar motion was made by 
Mr. Buck in the House. These propositions were consigned to the 
table gently that they might not disturb the quiet repose of the dead 
soldier and sage. 

About the same time the House Committeeou Public Buildings and 
Grounds was instructed to inquire into the expediency of purchasing 
three busts of Washington by Capellauo. The committee subsequently 
Reported that — 

However laudable it may 1)e in the frnY< rnment to cherish a disposition fiiendly 
to tlie tine arts and to patronize ingenious ai-lisans, or ])olitic to adoni our public 
halls or libraries with the likenesses of departed .sages and heroes, it is inexiiedieut 
to purchase these busts at this time under existing circumstances. 

The brief record is that the report was conciuTed in. 

Mr. Speaker, I challenge the civilized world, and I will include the 
semi-barbarous portion, to present a specimen of loftier contempt for 
the memories of the past, a more heartless and cavalier disposition 
of a sacred subject. Twenty-four years before, with one voice, the na- 
tion voted a monument to Washington, since which time no action had 
been taken toward it. The monument was again and again postponed ; 
a portrait was declined, and now three little busts could not be pur- 
chased "under existing circumstances." What were the "existing 
circumstances," I know not, unless it be that Congress was composed 
of men filled with personal ambitions, men absorbed in personal suc- 
cess, forgetful of the ))ast, indifi'ertMit as to the future, and who lived 
in an atmosphere of dead memories and unpatriotic and selfish mo- 
tives. 

i^ashington and his great services had disappeared. The question 
had become one of patronage of art, the embellishment of our halls 
and libraries, or the commemoration of our heroes and sages gener- 
ally. I shall go no further for i>roof that the so-called golden age of 
the Republic Avas an age of sordid and mean motives no better than 
our own, and that the evidences of patriotic devotion to the coun- 
try and to the memories of our revolutionary struggle are fourfold 
stronger and more sincere to-day than in the days to which we are 
apt to turn for high aspirations and lofty motives. 



9 

In 1826 the House tabled a resolution to adjourn over the 22d of 
February iu honor of Washington. 

In 1832 an attempt to make some arrangements to celebrate his 
centennial birthday was dropped owing to the refusal of Mr. John 
A. Washington to permit the remains to be removed from Mount 
Vernon. 

This Congress did, however, agree to employ John Vanderlyn, of 
New York, to paint a full-length portrait of Washington to be placed 
in the Hall of Kepresentatives opposite the portrait of Lafayette, 
the head to be a copy of Stuart's Washington, and $il,000 were appro- 
priated. 

^ This admirable painting is before you at the right of the Speaker, 
and I hope before we refuse to complete the unlinished monument 
that this picture may be veiled forever from the sight of man. I 
could never, Mr. Speaker, look toward your desk with those eyes full 
upon me and solemnly vote that our centenary may come and go with- 
out removing the national disgrace daily uttered by yonder uniinished 
shaft. 

At the same session, also, the statue nowin the East Capitolgrounds, 
by Horatio Greenoiigh, was ordered ; the head was to be a copy of Hou- 
don's Washington, the accessories according to the artist's judgment. 
This statue was designed for the Rotunda, but why it has been cast 
out and left utterly exposed and forsaken no one can tell. 

Two unsuccessful efforts in the Senate in the same year, one to 
purchase Eembrandt Peale's Washington, and one to erect a full- 
length bronze j)edestrian statite, closes the record, if we inchide the 
equestrian statue by Clark Mills, of all that has been done and refused 
by the American Congress toward redeeming a sacred pledge. 

This, ]\Ir. Speaker, is the history of thirty-two years of the American 
Congress in its effort by a suitable monumental structure to testify 
the gratitude of the American nation toward the Father of his Country ; 
a man renowned throught the world, whose name is now and ever 
shall be the synonym for liberty and for free government. 

We come now to the period when the people, despaii'ing of con- 
gressional action, resolved to erect a monument from contributions 
out of their own purses. The story of this well-meant effort is soon 
told. Its details are fully presented in the report of the committee 
which gentlemen have before them. 

In September, 1833, a number of patriotic citizens of Washington 
assembled together and on that and 8ubse(|uent meetings devised a 
plan for erecting a national monument. 

It was hoped that, a monument once erected by the voluntary con- 
tributions of the whole people, permission would be given to remove 
the remains of Washington for deposit in it, and whether tliis should 
be done or not it would be a rallying point for patriotism, and would 
be a noble emblem of attachment to the Union and its founders. 

Of the original number who founded the society, not one survives. 
The names of these patriots should not be forgotten, and I shall do 
them the poor honor of connecting them with what I hope we intend 
to be the last and successfixl effort to complete what they so nobly 
began. They were William Brent, Daniel Brent, James Kearney, 
George Watterson, Joseph Gales, Joseph Gales, jr., Peter Force, 
William W. Seaton, John McClellau, Pishey Thompson, and Thomas 
Carbery. 

Chief Justice Marshall was its first president and at his death Mr. 
Madison was chosen, since whose death the successive Presidents of 
the United States have held the position. 



10 

It "was first determined to limit the subscription of any one person 
to one dollar, but this restriction was afterward removed. 

In 1886 the subscriptions had reached $28,000 ; in 1847 they had 
reached |87,000. 

On the 31st of January, 1848, Congress passed a resolution author- 
izing the society to erect the monument upon one of the reservations 
of the Government. 

On the 4th of July, 1848, the corner-stone was laid in the presence 
of persons from all parts of the country and amid the prayers and 
plaudits of the whole people, and by 1854 the funds of the society 
were exhausted ; the obelisk had reached the height of one hnndi-ed 
and seventy feet, at a cost of |230,000, since which only four feet have 
4)een added. 

The society appealed to Congress for aid as subscriptions had 
ceased, and a committee of the House reported a bill appropriating 
$'200,000, but at this critical juncture rival aspirants got possession of 
the organization, thus jireventiug action, and held it until the latter 
part of 1858, when Congress incorporated the society and confirmed 
its title to the reservation; but after appealing to the country in 
every way it could suggest, the society frankly avows its belief that 
if the monument is to be completed by the centennial Congress 
must provide the means. 

This brings us face to face with our duty. The committee in recom- 
mending that Congress should promptly accept the trust ten- 
dered haA'e not been unmindful of public sentiment as to the duty to 
economize expenditures in every branch of Government, but the com- 
mittee thought there was that which withholdeth yet impoverisheth 
in this case. We did not believe that the enlightened public senti- 
ment of the country would sustain us in refusing a reasonable appro- 
priation to complete this monument. We felt that if no attempt had 
ever been made to erect a monument we could not honorably escape 
the duty imposed by the act of 1799, but we find here an unfinished 
monument started by the peoj)le which from lack of administrative 
machinery to reach contributors must utterly fail, unless the Repre- 
sentatives of the i)eople come to their assistance, and we must either 
refuse or make the necessary appropriation. 

Every (luestion as to cost, stability of the shaft, and appearance 
when completed is answered in the repoi-t. 

In brief, it is found not advisable to complete the obelisk to the 
height originally intended, (550 feet,) but to reduce it to the height 
of about 440 feet ; it is found also that the pantheon or colonaded 
structure at tin; base may be dispensed with, and thus make not only 
a less exi»ensive monument, but a shaft more graceful, in better j)ro- 
portiou, and altogether more desirable. 

For the pantheon is substituted a teiTace with massive steps and 
balustrade, forming admirable pedestals for future statues. 

Tlio obcliHk will coat 1345,145 17 

The terrace 65,540 75 

Total cost of obelisk 310, 685 92 

With the funds now in the hands of the societv. an appro]iriation 
of $300,000 will finish the monument, and of this'|;75,000 will be re- 
quired til is year. 

It is found tliat the work will require five hundred and thirty- 
seven days, so that a delay till next session is fatal. 

A word, Mr. Speaker, as to the plan. I know this has been criti- 
cised, but the criticism has been based not upon the etlect produced 



11 

by a shapely and graceful obelisk unadorned, but by confusing this 
pure and simple style of Egyptian architecture with the Grecian pan- 
theon or colonaded building suiTounding its base. But this is now 
dispensed with according to the plan recommended by the committee, 
and a terrace of proper proportions substituted in its stead. 

If the qxiestion were entirely a new one, and we were now for the 
first time to determine what character of monument should be erected 
to the memory of Washington, it maybe that something more artistic 
and ornamental would be approved ; but the people of the country, 
the rich and poor fiom the remotest boundaries of the Union, have 
subscribed to the monument upon the present design, and have ex- 
pended over a quarter of a million dollars in rearing it to its pres- 
ent height. The committee felt that this consideration alone, ad- 
mitting no others, would constrain them to adhere to this plan rather 
than to tear down the striicture and open the question anew as to the 
design of a monument. It was felt that the moment this was done 
the whole army of empirics and charlatans in art would open their 
shafts upon every plan devised, and that great difficulty would result'' 
in determining upon any plan. 

Some gentlemen here may remember that some years ago the com- 
mittee for erecting a monument at Hamilton Square, in New York, 
advertised for plans, and forty or fifty were sent in and exhibited at 
the Art Union. Mr. Varnum tells us in his "Seat of Government" 
that a more grotesque and absurd group of light-houses, pyramids, 
and nondescript structures never were got together; one only, that 
of Frazee, received the faintest praise, and it was a superb copj of 
the Parthenon, to cost about .$5,000,000. 

But, Mr. Speaker, there is something in this simple, majestic obe- 
lisk to my mind eminently proper as commemorative of the character 
of Washington, aside from the fact that the early fathers preferred 
it to one more involved and composite in its design. There is some- 
thing in this obelisk without ornament, pure and simple in its de- 
sign, not unlike the character of Washington. Strong and enduring, 
it cannot be more so than his fame ; lofty and majestic, it cannot be 
more so than the motives which governed his life ; higher than any 
like structiu-es in the world, it caunot excel them by so much as he 
stands above all others in the spotless purity of his character. 

Do gentlemen object to the site? Not to speak of its location as 
presenting a beautiful view of the Potomac, and from the top of the 
monument a full view of Mount Vernon, where rest the ashes of the 
chief, it was selected by Washington himself as the spot for a 
monument to the American Revolution which in 1795 was proposed 
should be erected at the permanent seat of Government ; and afterward 
it was marked on Major L'Enfant's map of Washington City as the 
site for the equestrian statne of General Washington ordered by the 
Continental Congress, which map was examined and approved by 
Washington himself; besides its elevation is but little below the 
foundations of this Capitol building. 

There is another consideration, Mr. Speaker, which will address itself 
to the minds of some members quite as strongly as the question of 
honor or sentiment involved. In 1859 Congress confirmed to the 
monument association their title to reservation No. 3, where the 
monument now stands, embracing about thirty acres, which had been 
deeded to them by President Polk in 1848. The deed gave to this 
society this reservation " to use, possess, and enjoy, quietly and peace- 
ably and free from all let or hinderance," for the piu-poses of the society. 
This reservation forms an important link in the cordon of reserva- 



12 

tions extending from the Ca])ilol groniids to the Executive Mansion. 
It is worth many times in value the amount required to complete the 
monimiont. The society have expressed a -willingness to reconvey this 
reservation to the United States if this a])propriatiou is made and 
the monument completed. As a question based entirely upon busi- 
ness principles, and laying aside all others, this alone should impel 
members to vote for the'appropriation. 

The United States are to-day trespassers in establishing a propa- 
gating garden on one jiortion of this reservation. Congress cannot 
with honor revoke the deed made to the society and refuse to carry 
out the trust coupled with it. 

I submit, then, to gentlemen with whom considerations of patriotism 
and national honor will not avail, that here is a motive worthy the 
most economical, and which can be defended upon business principles 
however exacting. 

But, Mr. Speaker, I am impelled almost to aiiologize to the House 
for having even suggested such a consideration. It cannot be that 
jiatriotism and national gratitude are dead in this land. It cannot be 
that the name and fame of Washington are things of the past. It 
cannot be that we so near to him, his own countrymen, must alone 
refuse to do him honor. 

Erskiiie wrote to Washington himself : 

I have a large acquaintauco among tli(* most valuable and excellent classes 
men ; but you are the ouly being for whom I ever felt an awful reverence. 

Said Fox of him in the British House of Commons in 1794 : 

Illustrious nuxn ! deriving honor less from the splendor of his situation than fiom 
the dignity of his mind. Before him all boirowed greatness sinks into iusiguiticance, 
and all the potentates of Europe become little and contemptible. 

Napoleon proclaimed, on hearing of the event : 

"Washington is dead ! Tliis great man fought against t.\Tanny; he established the 
liberty of his country. His memory will be always dear to the French people, as it 
■will IJe to all freemen of the two worlds. 

Said Lord Brougham : 

It will be the duty of the historian and the sage in all ages to let no oorasion pass 
of commemorating tliis illiislrious man ; and until time shall be no more will a test 
of the progress which oiu- race has made in wisdom and virtue be derived fi'om the 
veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington. 

Said Lamartine : 

Efface henceforth the name of Machiavol from your titles of glory, and substitute 
for it the name of Washington. That is the name" of modern liberty. It is no longer 
the name of a politician or a conqueror that is required ; it is that of a man the 
most disinterested and most devoted to the people. This is the man required by 
liberty. The want of the age is a European Wasliiugton. 

Is this, Mr. Speaker,a just estimate of the characterof our Washing- 
ton ? Do Ave believe it? And believing it, can wo turn toward yonder 
unfinished monument which overlooks the tinal resting-place of the 
Father of his Country, Avhose shadow in the evening sun reaches 
to thespot where we now stand, and deliberately A'ote to perpetuate that 
CAidence of national dishonor and national ingratitude 1 

No, sir. Complete it ere your centennial day arrives, or let no Ameri- 
can citizen look toward heaven on that glad morn and thank God 
that this is a land of liberty and that we are a free peoi)le. Complete 
it, or look not back to a noble ancestiy; but confess that your nation 
is iu its decadence, and that its days are already numbered. 



SPEECH 



HON. JOH?^ B. STORM 



Mr. STOEM. Mr. Speaker, I propose to occupy a very brief period 
of the time of tlie House in the discussiou of this question. The gen- 
tleman from tlie District, who has paid a great deal of attention to 
this subject, has made a very exhaustive and full speech upon it and 
has said all that I had intended to say and more than I could have 
said. 

Sir, I have prepared no remarks for this occasion, and I merely rise 
now for the purpose of saying that I am in favor of the completion of 
the Washington Monument. I challenge any member of this House 
to say whether there has been in this House during the Forty-second 
and Forty-third Congresses a member who has been more careful in 
voting for appropriations of money fi'om the public Treasury than I 
have been. I have ever been careful, and have endeavored by my 
votes so to act that no appropriation of money should be made from 
the iiublic Treasury by my consent except for measures of public im- 
portance and necessity. But I say unhesitatingly that I am ready 
and willing to vote the appropriation necessaiy to complete the Wash- 
ington National Monument. I think it is a subject of regret on the 
part of every one who visits the national capital that the Washing- 
ton Monument should remain to this day incomplete. I do not think 
a constituent of any member on this floor could find fault with that 
member if he were to vote the appropriation called for by the Select 
Committee on the Washington National Monument. I think, sir, 
that no person in all this country would find fault with any member 
for aiding in the completion of that monument by making an appro- 
priation from the Treasury, because, sir, it is a well-established fact 
that the Washington' Monument Association cannot complete the 
work. They have had it in hand for many years, and they confess in 
a communication made to the chairman of the select committee on 
this matter that they are willing to abandon the enterprise, admit- 
ting that they are unable to complete the work. 

If the monument had never been commenced, I do not say that I 
would be in favor at this time of making this appropriation. If 
that structure which is now a standing disgrace to the American 
people had never been commenced, I might be willing to wait for a 
more propitious occasion when the revenues of the Government 
would better justify than now an appropriation for this purpose. 
But standing there as it does, carried so far toward its completion, I 
am unwilling that the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a 
nation should dawn upon us with that monument standing there as 
a testimony that " republics are ungrateful." 

Since the first steps were taken in regard to a monument to Wash- 



14 

ington ninety-one years have passed away. In Angust, 1783, a resolu- 
tion was passed by Congress to erect an equestrian statue to Wasliing- 
ton. And the very site upon which thisuutiuished monument stands 
was selected for that purpose aiul approved by Washington himself. 
"Washington lias been dead three-tjuarters of a century, and yet no- 
where have the American people testified their gratitude, their afl'ec- 
t ion, and reverence for the name of Washington by expending any 
iimouut of money in a monumental work to perpetuate his memory. 
I know it has been said — it was eloquently said by the illustrious 
orator who spoke on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of this 
monument in Jnly, 1848 — that Washington needs no monument, that 
this wide-spread RepubUc is a monument to Washington. That may 
be all true. The immortality of Washington is assured to him. But 
while Washington does not need a monument, it is necessary in dis- 
charging our duty to him for us to finish this monument. I admit 
that Washington would be just as great if the American jieople should 
neglect to erect a monument to his name. But in justice to ourselves, 
injustice to the character of the man, we cannot further neglect to 
finish the structure which was commenced here in sight of this Capi- 
tol. The duty is incumbent upon us, although Washington may not 
need it. 

There are some questions connected with the building of this 
monument upon Avhicli this House probably may desire to be sat- 
isfied before it will be willing to vote this appropriation of money. 
There are two practical questions which presented themselves with 
great force to your committee. I think that committee has given 
proper attention to the two objections which have been presented to 
completing this monument which has been commenced here. The 
first was tliat the foundation of the present structure was so unsafe 
that it would be unwise to hazard any further expenditure of money 
upon it. The committee called upon General Humphreys of the Engi- 
neer Department to examine the foundation and the bases of the 
present work, and ascertain if it would be safe to carry it to com- 
pletion according to the original plan. 

General Humphreys detailed Lieutenant Marshall, of the Engineer 
Corps, to make the examination, a young man who I think I cau 
safely say has no superior in this country as an engineer. He made 
the examination and submitted a full and exhaustive report upon the 
condition of the present structure. He reports that the foundation 
is safe ; and while he thinks it might not be entirely safe to carry the 
monument up according to the original plan, to the height of six 
hnntbed feet, still it would be perfectly safe to carry it up to the 
height proposed by the committee, that is four hundred and thirty- 
seven feet. He says he has no doubt that it would be safe to carry 
the monument up to that height. That was an important question for 
ns to consider, because it has been alleged by many parties who vis- 
ited that monument that the chipping ofi:' iu the lines of the lower 
courses was an indication that it would be unsafe to carry the struc- 
ture up farther. 

Lieutenant Marshall explains how that took place. He says, that 
the outer edges of the l)locks which composed the lower courses being 
thicker than the inner edges, and the courses having been laid too 
close together, the chi])ping off is caused by the pressure of the shaft 
upon those lower courses, and indicates nothing but the fact that the 
outer e(lg(!s had been laid too close together. Tiiat it affects at all 
the safety and the stability of tlie structure he says is not the fact. 

He 8unk a shaft along the line of the foundation for the jiurpose of 



15 

examing the cliaracter of the soil iinderlyiug it. He gives us a de- 
tailed accouut of the soil and the foundatiou upon which the monu- 
ment rests. Wliile he thinks the height of six hiindred feet would 
probably be unsafe, although he does not say it would be, yet being 
very careful in his examinations, estimates, and calculations, he de- 
clares positively that it would be perfectly safe to carry the structiare 
up to four hundred and thirty -seven feet, which the committee think 
would be high enough. 

If the structure is limited to that height the sum required for its 
completion would be moderate ; only about $310,000 being required 
to complete the shaft and the terrace which Lieutenant Marshall has 
recommended for the ornamentation around the base of the monu- 
ment. This plan dispenses with the elaborate work included in the 
extensive ijantheon which was a part of the original plan. That pan- 
theon is to be omitted and a small plain obelisk, an unornamented 
shaft four hundred and thirty-seven feet high with a terrace about 
the base, is to be adopted in its stead, and according to his calculations 
that would require an expenditure of $310,000. 

Can it be said that the American people will be unwilling to expend 
that small sum for the purpose of completing this monument ? I do not 
think they will be unwilling to do so. I think that this House, nearly one 
hundred members of it having been willing to vote the sum of $3,000,000 
for the purpose of a centennial celebration at Philadelphia, would also 
be willing to vote the sum of $310,000 for the completion of this monu- 
ment, or about one-tenth of the same they were willing to give to the 
centennial celebration. 

We have then, Mr. Speaker, a safe basis upon which to work, which 
unfortunately has not been the case with former elfoits made in Con- 
gress for the completion of this monument. I think this is one of the 
reasons why Congress has been so negligent with regard to making 
an appropriation for it. We have never had heretofore a full report 
and clear statement of the exact condition of the monument. There 
has been abroad in the pulilic mind an impression that there was 
something unsafe about the present structure and that it would not 
be advisable to carry it to completion. That question I think is now 
settled l\v indubitable autliority based upon a full and searching 
examination, which has resulted in establishing the safety and sta- 
bility of the present structure and the feasibility of carrying it to 
the height of four hundred and thirty-seven feet. This I think is 
established beyond all doubt. 

Such being the case, it only remains for us to vote this appropria- 
tion. As I have said, $310,000 will be the utmost amount needed for 
the completion of the work. The question has been asked of me 
whether all this would be required in one year. It would not. If 
$7.5,000 were appropriated this year and the remaining portion next 
year it would be sufficient. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. The gentleman will allow me to say that I con- 
sulted Lieutenant Marshall, the engineer whose report is before us, 
with direct reference to ascertaining the least sura that it would be 
necessary to expend before the reassembling of Congress in Decem- 
ber next, and he said that with the amount which the society now 
has— about $15,000— all that would be needed between this tinie and 
the assembling of Congress would be $7.5,000 additional. 

Mr. STORM. Mr. Marshall, the engineer wlio made the examina- 
tion of the present structure, has not only made the estimate of the 
amount of api)ropriation which would be required, l)ut he tells 
us the time within which it can be completed ; that it would take 



16 

five hundred and tlurty-sevcn working days to complete the shaft. 
This estimate is based of course upou the consideration of the num- 
ber of men who can be advantageously employed upou the work for 
that period of time ; because only a limited number can work to ad- 
vantage. It would require, according to his estimate, five hundred 
and thirty-seven working days. It must be plain, then, to the House 
that if tlie Avork is to lie completed by the 4th of July, 1876, it must 
be commenced very soon, as there will be only about six hundred 
working days between the next 4th of July and the 4th of July, 
1876. The work therefore must be connueucod soon after the coming 
4th of July. The appropriation proposed would not of course all be 
needed at once. If we make an approi)riation of .$7.5,000 tliis year 
and the balance next year it would be amply sufficient to carry the 
Avork to completion by the 4th of July, 1876. 

As to the association that has had charge of this work I must say 
that a more patriotic body of men never labored for a good cause than 
the men who have worked for the completion of this monument. I 
know that nmcli scandal has been in circulation with regard to the 
management of this affair, but if gentlemen knew the character of 
the men who have had this work in charge for many years — the offi- 
cers of this association — they must at once acquit them of any such 
conduct as is attributed to them by the false rumors which have been 
afloat in regard to the management of this enterprise. They have 
labored hard and faithfully to complete it ; but the fact has been 
shown, and they admit it, that by the system of voluntary contribu- 
tion this monument cannot be finished. The only fair Avay is to give 
every person in the Republic a chance to contribute by taxation to 
the erection of this monument. I think the American people should 
build it, and the only fair way to distribute the expense is by an a^)- 
propriation from the public Treasury, so that every person may con- 
tribute his share. 

Mr. Speaker, upon Washington more eulogies have been pronounced 
than upon any man wlio lived in the eighteenth century. He has 
been praised by statesmen, by historians, and by poets both of the 
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I think it can be truly said that 
the memory of Washington has not faded from the American mind. 
I believe that the American people do yet api)reciate tlie life, char- 
acter, and services of Washington. I cannot believe that the American 
people are so derelict in their duty to his memory that they are will- 
ing now in this national ca])ital that monument shall longer stand 
incomplete. In this beautiful capital, built upon the spot selected 
by Washington, we liave erected stately public buildings for carrying- 
on the business of the various Departments of the Government — 
buildings substantial in structure and beautiful in their architecture. 
This city has been wonderfully Improved within the last few years. 
Its parks have been ornamented, its streets have been beautified. 
But we are constantly admonished of our neglect in seeing this shaft 
incom])lete. Speaking for myself and my constituents, I say I am 
unwilling that unfinished shaft shall stand any longer as a reproach 
to ns. Early in the Forty-second Congress I introduced a resolution 
calling for infornuition concerning this enter]>rise. I did not know at 
the time that that infornuition had been called for in a prior Con- 
gress and was already at hand. I5ut I have labored ever since I have 
been in Congress, in an humble way at least, to bring about among 
my friends a state of feeling which would aid us in the completion 
of this monument; and nothing would gratify me more when I retire 
from this Congress than to know that I may have done something in 
urging the coiiqiletion of this work. 




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jj-H"!^ i/o^i^ct^ 



19 

tion called in 80 earnest and eloquent terms by the Delegate from the 
District. On the contrary, as shown to night, by the proceedings of 
early Congresses they resolved in favor of some kind of statue, an 
equestrian statue. They resolved from time to time in favor of some 
kind of monument. But I do not know that Congress has ever re- 
solved in favor of that shaft. I have never been able to find it, and 
I think if such a resolution had been in existence the Delegate from the 
District would have referred to it. I have examined the matter with 
some care and have not found such resolution. I do not think the 
gentleman is in favor of it himself. Indej)endent of some other ques- 
tions, to which I will come prettj' soon, it has an unfortunate founda- 
tion as it stands. 

Then, Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate again that the surveys and 
examinations which have been made with reference to the stability 
of the present structure are not satisfactory at least to me/ and I 
know they are not satisfactory to many others. It has been asserted 
that it is safe to erect that monument to the height that it is proposed 
now to be erected upon its present foundation. It may seem very 
strange for one who makes no pretension to technical knowledge or 
information upon such a subject as that to say that he does not think 
it is safe. I have examined with care the re])ort of the gentleman 
who has surveyed it. I believe he is a skilled and excellent offi- 
cer. I believe that Lieutenant Marshall has a bright future before 
him ; but I am not entirely satisfied with the testimony which he 
gives on this subject. I am going to read from his report a few 
extracts, for the purpose of showing to the gentlemen interested and 
to the House one of the reasons why I cannot vote for this appropri- 
ation. He says in his report many things, but does not appear to 
give an affirmative answer to the question, whether it is safe to erect 
the monument upon the foundation as at present laid. 

I do not think he says so, Mr. .Speaker, and I will read what he does 
say ; and first, in speaking of the condition of the shaft at present, 
fi'om the examination he made of it, he says : 

This examination resulted, in showintr that tlie axis of the shaft is inclined ao that 

its top is deflected 1.4 inches to the northwest. In February last the upper of the 

oundation cnursea loas found by leveling to be depressed .6 of an inch to the north ivest, 

which would indicate a deflection at the top of the axis of that portion of the shaft 

noiv completed of about 1.6 inches. 

I do not claim that that shows a very dilapidated condition of the 
monument; but I want to read the balance of what he says about it. 
That is in reference to a shaft one hundred and seventy feet high, and 
now it is proposed to raise it up to — how much ? 

Mr. CHIPMAN. Four hundred and thirty-seven feet. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. He says in another portion of the report : 

That portion noio bttilt consists of its foundation masonry of rough blocks of gniess, 
many of them small, laid in hydraulic mortar — twenty-five feet high, eighty feet 
square at base, and fifty-nine feet square at top, and a portion of the shaft one 
hundred and seventy feet high of marble ashlar facing and rubble backing. 

Excavations and examinations show tliat the foundation is placed eight feet be- 
low the surface of the ground upon ordinary loam or a mixture of clay and fine 
saad. Below this the proportion of sand was found to increase until a depth of 
twenty-two feet, or fourteen feet below the bottom of the foundation was attained, 
when a compact bed of giavel cemented by a ferruginous clay was found, which 
is inclined under such a small angle that it may be regarded as sensibly horizontal. 
The difficulty in boring in such material, and the presence of water m,aking the sinking 
of an ordinary well more expensive than the means at my disposal would allow, no 
examination as to the thickness of this stratum of gravel or hard-pan was made. 
SuflBcient is known, however, from wells dug in the monument lot to justify the 
assertion that there is no reason for ajiprehending that the earth is not firm'for a 
sufficient depth to atford a good foundation for the heaviest of structures, provided 



20 

sufficient spread be qivcn to the foundation and 2'i'oi^cr measures be taken to insure a 
unijorin distribution of pressure. 

Now if tliat is a square answer to the ])r<)posifion submitted to him, 
if it is an answer that such a shaft could be safely erected upon the 
foundation, I for cue do not consider it so, and it is not satisfactory 
to me. That is another reason why I care not to vote an appropriation 
to construct this monument. Tlie most direct answer he makes as to 
whether it would be safe to construct the moji naient on i ts present foun- 
dation is found in this language: 

As far as can be discovered in a careful examinatiin of the structure, tlicre are 
no sufficient grounds for doubting the security of the foundation under its present 
load. 

He says as far as can be discovered on a careful examination of 
the structure there are no suiticient grounds for dcubtiug the security 
of the foundation under its present load : i>ut you propose to add 
two hundred feet to this monument. In the other place where he 
answers the question he says it is sufiicicntly rirm to support the 
heaviest structure provided a spread is given to secure it. That is 
the only language in which he refers to the siitli<;iency of the foundar 
tions, and if the gentleman can draw fi"om tliat an affirmative state- 
ment, that it is perfectly safe to erect this particular monument to 
the height to which it is proposed to erect it, then he is more capable 
of determining the meaning of words thiui I am. 1 confess I am 
unable to do it. 

IVIr. CHIPMAN. The gentleman will allov/ -.ne to iiilcrrupthim for 
a moment. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. Certainly. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. I know the gentleman dc^lLC-; tiic truth in this 
matter. While he disagrees with a majority of the committee, I- am 
confident that he disagrees with them honestly, and I know ho will 
allow me to point out to him one important j)iece of evidence. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. If I fail to notice it before I get through 
I will give the gentleman an opportunity to remind me of it. I 
should be glad, of course, to have the truth known in regard to this 
matter. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. I have no doubt of it. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. I do not desire to be niisicd or to mislead 
anybody in relation to a sulyeet of this kind. I desire to understand 
the matter truthfully. I do not apprehend that there was any pur- 
pose on the part of this engineer to mislead anybody. Ho follows 
out what I have read with a whole lot of problems, which I am not 
competent to work out, but which the gentleman from the District 
may have worked out. I am not able to solve them, :uid I have not 
time to attem])t it now. I have giveii his language, and 1 believe 
the whole of his language, on the question of the solidity of the foun- 
dation of this moiuuncnt. 

Now, there is one other proposition to which I desire to call atten- 
tion and one other argument usimI by the Delegate from the District 
of Columbia which if unanswered might seem to have some force in 
it. I submit that if he w^ants to l)e entirely fair, and I know he does, 
he goes outside of the mark. I think it was unkind of liim to talk 
about men being sordid in reference to this question. I do not like 
that kind of talk. I know that in debates like these gentlemen talk 
as they please, but I do not believe that those I represent arc sordid 
upon this question. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. The gentleman will allow me to say that the sor- 
did pereous to whom I referred were the members wlio long since 



21 

preceded us here, and who failed to do their duty in respect to this 
monument. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. I am coming to that. I do not like to 
hear that kind of talk. I do not yield to the gentleman in admira- 
tion of the grand achievements of this great man. His memory is as 
dear to me as it is to him. He has done as much for me as he ever 
did for the gentleman; he did it for all of us. But the argument 
which he makes that this property of thirty acres on which the mon- 
ument stands is worth more than is asked for by this bill and is now 
the property of the commission to whom the work was formerly com- 
mitted, is not to my mind exactly a fair one. The original act pro- 
vided substantially that the commissioners, the corporation, should 
have this property for the purpose of erecting thereon a monument. 
It is hardly fair to say that we ought to make this appropriation be- 
cause the commission is ready to reconvey this property to the Gov- 
ernment. I do not want to speculate in real estate — we all speculate 
in real estate more or less in my part of the country. But this land 
was set apart for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory 
of Washington, and I want no speculation by any body, not even the 
Government, in that land. 

The law which created this commission — and I call the attention of 
gentlemen to it — the commission or corporation to which the title to 
this land was conveyed for the purposes set forth in the deed— con- 
tains this provision : 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That this act may at any time be altered, 
amended, or repealed by the Congiess ot the United States. 

And I have something else in relation to that in the records in this 
case. This commission having failed in its trust, not by any fault of 
its own but simply because the xVmerican people did not respond in 
money to their call for the building of such a monument as this ; and 
I might, perhaps, stop here and give some reasons which prevented 
. the commission from succeeding. One probably was that when the un- 
sightly column reared itself so high that they could see it they did 
not feel like contributing more to it. It is not correct to argue that 
the Government Avill make money by this appropriation and resum- 
ing the possession of this land. In the gentleman's own report — I jire- 
sume it is his report — if not, I beg his pardon 

Mr. CHIPMAN. The gentleman is right. 

Mr. WAED, of Illinois. In speaking of the general management of 
this matter the gentleman says in his report: 

Tour committee deem it but just to tho people that this conveyance of so impor- 
tant a reservation should be canceled and the title again vested in 'the United States. 

This your committee believe it is entirely competent for Conaress to do — 

First. Because the charter act confirming the deed is repealable by its terms. 

Second. Because the deed was made in trust, which trust, by tlie confession of 
the society, cannot be longer carried out ; besides, the members of the society have 
by formal vote expressed a williuguess to suiTender their organization. 

That is an answer to that part of the argument. The land belongs 
to the Government already ; the right to repossess it is perfect and 
complete. 

I do not know but I might properlj^ stop now and say no more. I 
do not want to say a word beyond what I feel in duty bound to say, 
as I am a member of the committee which makes this report, to justify 
the vote which I shall give. But I will go on a little further and say 
that I do not believe we have been guilty of any injustice toward the 
memory of Washington. I do not believe there has been any ingi a'i- 
tude in the hearts of the American peojde toward that great man. 
They have builded a monument to him better and higher and broader 



22 

than any that could be rcarodof stone. He is eushriutd iu the heart of 
every one who loves freedom. He lives and moves and controls to 
day by the memory of his glorious deeds and acts this great people 
more than any other man living or dead. It is unkind to say that the 
failure to complete this monument — which I can hardly restrain lay- 
self from characterizing in stronger terms than any I have yet used, but 
I will not do so — it is unkind to say that the failure tci construct this 
monnmenl is any evidence of ingratitude on the part of the Ameri- 
can peoj)le. 

That is not the reason it has not been finished. There is another 
reason that underlies all this, and which has had much to do iu de- 
termining the action of Congress and the people upon this question. 
I represent here a constituency living many hundred miles away, a 
constituency not less patriotic, not less devoted to the great cause 
for which Washington so gloriously struggled, not less in love with 
his memory and his achievements than are those who live in this city. 
They have been appealed to, as have the rest of the people of this 
country. To what extent they have responded to those appeals I do 
not know. But they have been appealed to in the proper manner. 
This commission which was organized to build this monument was the 
proper medium for the solicitation of funds for the purpose. If my 
people have declined to contribute of their means for this purpose, I 
do not feel that I have any right to appropriate for this purpose 
money from the public Treasury which has been taken from them Ln 
the shape of taxes for the expenditures of the Government and apply 
it to finish this unhappy shaft upon this unsafe founc^ation. 

I do not say there may not be found precedents for such an appro- 
priation as is here asked for; I do not say that there may not be 
occasions when such appropriations may sometimes be made, and this 
may be a proper occasion, yet I do not feel that in times like the 
present, when the condition of the country is what every one knows 
it to be, (and I am not going to talk about that,) I do not feel that I 
have a right to vote !|10U,000 or $300,000 or any considerable sum for 
the completion of this unsightly, unstable shaft. And I do not be- 
lieve, nor am I willing that it should go to the people of this country 
or be spread upon the record, that because I am unwilling to vote for 
this appropriation, therefore I am less patriotic, less in love with the 
achievements and the gi-eat events in which that great man partici- 
pated, or lesa desirous to perpetuate his memory and hand down his 
bright example to those who will follow us, than are those who enter- 
tain different views upon this subject. I am not willing that any such 
record shall be made against me or those wbom I represent on this 
floor. 

Therefore I will say in conclnsicni, laying aside every other con- 
sideration but tliat of c(mviction founded upon a careful study and 
consideration of this su1>ject — not a scientific study, for I am not an en- 
gineer, but a conviction founded on a careful survey and exam inati<m 
of this ill-sliapen, badly put together structure, and the mixed blocks 
which form the foundation upon ordinary mold, as is stated in the 
report from which I have read, without any knowledge of what is 
l)elow it, stratas of sand and gravel, the dei)th and thickness of which 
is unascertained — I am unwilling to vote more money to be expended 
upon it, for the reason that I do not believe it to be either safe or 
proper. 

Now I believe that if you should go on ami complete this monu- 
ment — this opinion is not worth much and I do not give it as being- 
worth much — 1 believe that if we complete this structure even upon 



23 

the plan now proposed by the committee, the storms, the uncertain 
foundation, the swaying to and fro of such a column, will sooner or 
later bring it to the earth ; and I want no monument erected to 
Washington by human hands which time can crumble. The monument 
which he now has can never be destroyed by wind or wave or storm, 
unless it be such a storm as shall sweep from the face of the earth 
the last human heart that loves freedom. 

Mr. Speaker, I have felt called upon to attract the attention of mem- 
bers to these several views, because I have been just a little afraid 
that notwithstanding the " hard times" the patriotism of this House 
of Representatives, which I know is up to high tide, might under 
the energetic lead of the chairman of this committee be induced 
to make an appropriation for this purpose that ought not to be made. 
Leaving out every other consideration, I believe the attempt ought 
not to be made to piece out a structure which ought never to have 
been commenced in such a way and upon such a foundation. If a 
monument to Washington must be erected, let it be upon a founda- 
tion that is not mud, and marl, and gravel, and sand. If this is to be 
completed, let not the engineer tell you, as he does in his report, that 
he was unable to get through the stratum of gravel just below the 
foundation, that the difficulty of boring by reason of water coming 
in was so great and the means at his control were so small that ho 
could not attempt except in general terms to say in a sort of guessing 
way that the foundation, if properly spread out, would be sufficient 
to support some structure of very considerable proportions, and that 
it is sufficieut tQ support the structui-e with its present weight. That 
we already knew ; we did not need any scientific man to tell us that, 
for we know that it does support it in an indiiferent way. I believe 
we shall be doing wrong unless we require, before a dollar of appro- 
priation is made for this monument, a more elaborate survey of the 
situation, of the foundation, of the condition of the soil, than we have 
had up to the present time. Why, sir, there is notice to us in this re- 
port of Lieutenant Marshall that if you should go on and erect this 
monument another hundred or two hundred feet high, and it should 
fall down at the first storm, you could not hold him to any sort of 
accountability. He has not told you and does not tell you except in 
a, general way that the foundation is sufficiently strong ; and after a 
fall had taken place in the structure, he might easily say that his re- 
port never covered this exact case. 

Mr. STORM. I do not wish to interrupt the gentleman, but he 
■will allow me to ask whether in the report of Lieutenant Marshall the 
only doubt he expresses is not with regard to carrying the monument 
to the height of six hundred feet ; whether he does not say it would 
be perfectly safe to carry it to the height of four hundred and thirty- 
seven feet. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. No, sir; he does not say that it would be 
perfectly safe if carried to the height of four hundred and thirty- 
seven feet. His report upon that point is expressed in very general 
terms indeed. I have read every extract from the report which in any 
direct manner answers that question. True, he submits a lot of 
problems which I cannot solve, but I would never vote money on such 
problems as those. 

Mr. STORM. On the thirteenth page of his report he uses this lan- 
guage : 

From which we find that the stability of the shaft at its point of least stability 
is 7.4 greater than necessary to in.sure safety. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. That is with reference to the men iment 
as it stands now. 



24 

Mr. STORM. No, sir ; it, is bis calculation with regard to carrying 
the monument to tlie height of four hundrcsd and thirty-seven feet. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. On what page of the report is that ? 

Mr. STORM. On page i:^, about the middle. 

]Mr. WARD, of Illinois. I read that same extract. 

Mr. STORM. You did not read it all. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. I think I did. 

Mr. Mccormick obtained the floor. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. I hope the gentleman from Arizona will indulge 
me a moment that I may say a few words in connection with the re- 
marks just made by the gentleman from Illinois. The committee 
desire nothing more than that the problem as to the security of the 
foundations shall be fully solved before one dollar is expended toward 
the completion of this monument. No greater disgrace, certainly no 
greater calamity, could, possibly befall the country than that the 
shaft after being once completed should fall to the ground. I can 
imagine a imiversal wail of sorrow going up over the whole land at 
such an event. But I hope, when we come to the question of action 
before the House, to suggest a provision in whatever bill may be voted 
upon that no money shall be expended until a further examination 
has been made and the officers of the Engineer Department have re- 
ported to the President that upon such further examination they are 
satisfied the work can go on to the height recommended. I am quite 
as much interested in having proper security against such a result as 
is the gentleman from Illinois. I would be unwilling to advise the 
House to construct any monument which might, by chance at some 
future time fall to the ground. Indeed the chief reason for adopting 
the simple obelisk was its permanency and imperishability. 

The gentleman bnses his remarks in part upon what he fears or 
hopes or belicA'^es to be the public sentiment of his district. I wish 
to call his attention to an editorial clipped from the Chicago Inter- 
Ocean, a paper published in the city where he resides. Si^eaking of 
this monument and its proposed completion that paper says : 

Efforts to tliis end have beeu made iu every Consiress for at least fifteen yeara, 
but without succesa. We are glad that this course is finally to be adopted, for the 
simple reason that it is an unpleasant feature of the national capital to see such a 
work abandoned and going to dilapidation. In its inception we believe it was. in 
bad taste. George Washington's best monuments are the great nation which he 
heli)ed to found and the record of his pure and patiiotic life. He needed no such 
shaft as this to commemoiate his deeds, and the money which has been and is to be 
wasted in its construction had much better have been devoted to some different 
purpose— to cliarity or to paying so much of the national debt. But there are so 
many good souls who feel that the work ought to go on that we are glad that action 
is to be taken in Congress which will secure that result. 

The coniTnittee, in view of all the facte, recommend that the Government take the 
work off the hands of the association and assume the responsibility of its comple- 
tion, which Congress will no doubt do. Uncle Sam does such jobs in first-clas.s 
st^le, and with reasonable speed. We may, therefore, hope— those of us who may 
visit the national capital in the course of a few years — to see this great mammotu 
pillar looming up against the sky — the tallest work of the kind in the world. 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. Will the gentleman allow me to say to him, 
since he has ((noted the remarks of that paper, that I recognize it» 
author ? It is an excellent paper and widely circulated. Still, of a 
dozen ]tapcrs published in my city, it is the only one which has said a 
word on this subject. So far as I know it would not urge the build- 
ing on sncli foundation and does not urge it. 

Mr. CHil'MAN. I have not read the journal for the purpose of find- 
ding articles upon this subject. This one was specially brought to 
my attention. 



25 

Mr. WARD, of Illinois. I merely wish to say that it is scarcely 
fair to give an extract from one newspaper published where there 
are a dozen others, and say that it reflects the public sentiment when 
all the others may be on the other side, and besides that paper does 
not pretend to say that this particular plan should be adopted. I 
respect the paj^er but I do not specially care whether they are for or 
against this, and know well enough they would all be against com- 
pleting this shaft as proposed if they once saw that foundation. 

Mr. CHIPMAN. No doubt the gentleman's judgment is independent 
on this subject. He has the reputation on this floor of forming an 
independent judgment. I only wished to call attention to the fact 
that even in Chicago, where there is no very friendly feeling in regard 
to the present location of the Capitol and its futiue adornment, the 
people there think it is the duty of Congress to complete the monu- 
ment. And 1 might on this question of piiblic opinion lay before the 
House similar expressions from every quarter of the Union including 
the great journals of the nation's commercial metropolis. 

Now in regard to this question of security of the foundations, I wish 
only to add to what api)ears in the reports and in the remarks already 
submitted, that in 1855 a committee of this House was appointed to 
examine the subject, and a I'eport was made, a very full one, by a mem- 
ber from the State of Maryland, to which was apx>ended a report of an 
officer of engineers of the Ai-my stating his views upon this very sub- 
ject, and he held that the foundations were entirely- secure. Later 
Mr. Marshall made a report to the last Congress concurring in that 
opinion. And now, after a more careful examination, while he says 
he does not think the monument can be safely built to the height of 
six hundred feet, he recommends that it be built to a height of four 
hundred and forty feet. The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ward] is 
quite right in saying that Lieutenant Marshall is not clear and dis- 
tinct in saying that the foimdations are secure for erecting the mon- 
ument to any given height ; but he does recommend to Congress that 
the shaft be completed to the height of four hundred and forty feet, 
and he certainly would not I'ccommend that if he thought the foun- 
dations were insecure. 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. EICHAED C. MoCORMICK. 



Mr. Mccormick, a year or more ago, when a similar committee 
■was appointed to take this snbjeot into consideration, and a report 
■v^'a^s presented by that committee, it was supposed by many men then 
in Congress that the recommendations of the report would meet very 
general favor, and at a meeting of the representatives of the Territo- 
ries, the Western Territories, it was suggested that if there was to be 
a general movement in favor of the completion of that monument 
something should be said for the people living on the far fiontier, and 
I was asked at that time to saj' something in lielialf of those people. 

I prepared some remarks, and took some pains to gather facts and 
figures from abroad in reference to monuments there, triumphal arches, 
and mementoes of this class; and I propose to-night not to occupy 
the attention of the House, but simply to obtain leave to print those 
facts and figures in connection with this subject. 

I would simply say in connection with what the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Wakd] has stated, that it seems to me that the question 
is not to-night whether it was wise or unwise to start this monument 
upon the plan on which it was started. It may not have been wise, 
it may not have been necessary, and the plan may not have been in 
g<K)d taste or an appropriate one. But the people of this country, so 
far as I have talked with them, have a horror of allowing anything 
started as a monument in honor of Washington to be abandoned or 
given up ; and therefore if it be not the most tasteful design, or if it 
be not in the most appropriate location, it would still seem to be in 
accordance with the spirit of the people thi'oughout the length and 
breadth of the land that it should be completed and not abandoned. 
One reason why the private subscriptions are not large is this. I 
think the people have felt this and liave l)een more reluctant to sub- 
scribe on this ground. But there has been more or less of interest 
shown, and perhaps if there had been greater vigor of management 
or respect for those who have been in charge of the aft'air the neces- 
sary funds might have been raised. A single efiort was made in the 
State of California, and at the election in 18G0, $11,000 were contrib- 
uted at the polls. Now, if as much as that had been done in the other 
States at one or two elections the entire sum of money would have 
been raised. The total cost of this monument would be small as com- 
pared with other similar monuments in Europe. I find that one of 
the triumphal arches in Paris cost a million and a half of dollars; I 
find that wherever they have inidertakou in Europe to commemorate 
the services of military men or of men of civil renown and distinction, 
they have carried the work throiigh almost entirely at the expense 
of the Government, and carried it through at less cost that this mon- 
ument will involve. 



27' 

I am not prepared to question the suggestiona of the gentleman as 
to the security of the foundations or the general character of the work. 
I only say, speaking for the people of the far frontier, that their 
unanimous feeling is in favor of completing this work and they feel 
that it would be well if possible to complete it before the 4th of July, 
1876. 

Mr. CHIPiL^JN. I desire to say one word more. There is another 
report pending before the House from this committee made by the 
gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. Pelham,] who had the matter in 
charge, as chairman of a sub-committee. Although I was not a mem- 
ber of the sub-committee that visited Fredericksburgh for the pur- 
pose of inquiry into the condition of the tomb of Mary, the mother of 
Washington, the gentleman having that subject in charge not being 
here, I will say, that the committee agreed unanimously to recom- 
mend an appropriation of about $12,000 to complete that monument. 
It is, if possible, in a more disgraceful condition than the monument 
in this city to the memory of George Washington. It was partly de- 
stroyed during the war. It lay between the battle-lines of the Union 
and confederate forces and was in the midst of the camping-ground 
alternately of the Union and confederate troops. It has been defaced 
by curiosity-seekers until now one can hardly recognize it as a monu- 
ment to any one. I think it is the duty of Congress, second only in im- 
portance to its duty to complete the Washington National Monument, 
to see that the eifort to commemorate the memory of that woman who 
gave birth to so great a man is carried out. The committee are I be- 
lieve unanimously in favor of making this appropriation. If this 
nation has ever contributed to perpetuate by monumental structure 
the memoiy of any woman, I do not now recall the instance. May we 
not do so in this instance as a graceful recognition, not only of her 
family, but of the mothers of the Revolution ? 

The gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. Sener,] who takes a great inter- 
est in this matter and who is from the district where this tomb is 
located, has given his attention to the subject and I hope he will ad- 
dress the House upon it. I should be glad to hear from him to-night. 



SPEECH 



HOX. JAMES B. SENEE 



Mr. SENER. Mr. Speaker, it is a curious fact ia our progressive, 
utilitariiiu liistory which we are making day by clay, that while we 
can always draw to this Chamber one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
dred men from all parts of the nation when wit is to be bandied, or 
when the question of the retention or dismissal of a clerk is to be 
considered, only fifteen or twenty Eepreseutatives of the people can 
be gathered here to consider the question of whether it is a jjayiug 
business in this nation of ours, this grand experiment of self-govern- 
ment, to perpetuate the memory, and record in brass or stone our rec- 
ognition of the virtues of those who gave birth to the Republic. I 
say it is a commentary, which I make not as a reproach upon my fel- 
low-members, but it is a commentary that springs from that utilita- 
rian spirit which threatens to sap the very life-blood of the Republic. 
Men seem to be forgetting the principles on which the Government 
was founded ; men seem to be forgetting those springs of human action 
which governed the fathers of the Revolution when they brought 
into being that experiment of Government which we have developed 
into a great and magnificent Republic, spreading from ocean to ocean. 
If this Government is worth preserving, it is worth preserving on the 
basis of the principles in which it originated. If it is worth preserv- 
ing, it is worth while to remember those who gave to it in the days 
of its infancy their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors. If 
it is worth while to remember these men, surely, above all and beyond 
all, it is worth while to remember that grand central figure who con- 
tributed so much to the success of the armies of the Revolution, and who 
brought out of the very fires of the Revolution the little band of patriots 
that established a Government which at that time was the admira- 
tion of the lovers of human freedom everywhere. To-day it is the 
first republic in the world, and of the first powers of the earth. I say 
that it is a patriotic duty to cherish the memory of this great man, 
and not only to cherish his memory and emulate his virtues, but if it 
is worth while to remember him, it is worth while to remember also 
that mother whose counsels made him what he was, and to whom he 
owed everything of his success in life. 

I have (mly to say further, for I have prepared no speech, tha^t the 
only trouble about the completion of this monument in my judgment 
seems to be this : that in the ])ast few years so great has been the 
degeneracy touching the expenditure of public money, the great fear 
everywhere is that appropriations of i)ublic money will not be fairly, 
squarely, and honestly applied. The gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. 
Wai{D,] who has spoken here to-night with such force as he always 
brings to bear upon every subject, has intimated that this scheme, as 
I understood him, never originated in any proper motive; That is to 



29 

say, the love of WasIiiugtoD, the adniiratiou of hia patriotism, and of 
his efforts in our early struggles for independence were made instru- 
ments whereby some designing men operated upon the confidence of 
the American people in order to make money out of the construction of 
a monument. Arid this, taken with his opposition to the site and the 
objection to the foundation on account of its want of security, con- 
stitutes the only argument that is presented on the floor of the 
American Congress in opposition to the completion of this monu- 
ment. 

Can it be, Mr. Speaker, that in less than a century we have so far 
degenerated as to abandon so grand an undertaking for such reasons 
as these ? Can it be that the American Congress will hesitate to ap- 
propriate money for this purpose because of the belief that the 
appropriation which may be made will be dishonestlv applied ? Can 
it be that we, as the representatives of the people, will say that our 
virtue is higher than that of the men who sent us here, and that 
such an appropriation if made will not be honestly applied ? I say 
no ; for I believe not in the utter degeneracy of the times. The time 
has come when we are about to unload ; and I am satisfied that the 
Forty-third Congress is doing the work nobly and manfully, and that 
upon Its skirts will hang no Credit Mobilier ; that it will teach such 
lessons as will prove to ail rings and corruptionists that the money of 
the Government when appropriated must be honestly and legitimately 
expended. I believe that the fear of any other result will work a 
wrong and injury, especially if it leads to a refusal to make an appro- 
priation out of the public Treasury for a purpose that must challenge 
the admiration of the whole world and command the sober approval 
of the whole American people for both the monument here in Wash- 
ington and the unfinished one to the mother of that great man at 
Fredericksburgh, Virginia. 

I hope that these appropriations will both be made. Standing here 
as I do the representative of the district in which Washington was 
born, I wish I had the power and force to plead in real earnest tones 
with the few men who have come hereto-night actuated by the noble 
impulses of patriotism and by their presence showing their approval 
of the proposition the real importance of these two monumental prop- 
ositions from the stand-point of a lofty patriotism that can never be 
too highly valued. 1 wish I could impress upon them the necessity 
of linking the past and the present by these glorious memories. 

While on my way to this Capitol to-night I heard the argument 
made against this proposition that the peox)le of this country wanted 
to change the location of this capital, and therefore no more money 
ought to be spent for any public work here in Washington. In other 
words, that we are to go over again the history of the eastern and the 
western empire, to have two capitals ; one here and the other on the 
Pacific slope or somewhere in the center of the continent. Sir, it 
matters not so much where the capital is situated. Railroads and 
telegraph lines, which did not exist in the days of Rome or in the 
earlier days of our Republic, have annihilated time and space, and 
better than anything in this utilitarian age are the glorious memories 
which help us to revive our admiration of the past, to preserve its 
sentiments and traditions ; and because of its name and the great man 
whose history is blended with it, this national capital must long re- 
mam the cherished object of every American heart. Nor will the seat 
of the American government ever be hastily changed, however much 
the subject may be agitated. Talk uot about forgetting those memo- 
ries ! i^Isthei;e a man who has come to years of maturity who does uot 



30 

cherish the moraories of the past abore all things else ? When the years 
come about liim and the days grow on, when his own youth that he 
loved so well begins to ripen into maturer manhood, is there not some- 
thing that tells us that the memories of childhood are the purest and 
that the afT'ections and friendships of youth are the best! Applying 
the same reasoning, shall wc ever forgot the infancy of the Republic ? 
Ought we ever to forget the men who helped to bring about its or- 
ganization, who lenttheir aid in sustaining this Republic in its infancy 
and aided in laying the fouiulation of that power in virtue of which 
we are here to-night the representatives of a great, free, and power- 
ful people ? 

liut, as I said before, I have prepared no speech, and until the 
chairman of the committee called on me I had no expectation of 
saying a word. But I tnist not only may these appropriations be 
made, but, as I said a few minutes ago, let those monuments be made 
connecting links between the memories of the past and the hopes of 
the future. 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. SAMUEL S. COX 



Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, all monumeuts are a part of history. Every 
monument erected to a great man, or in memory of a great event, 
illustrates something in history. It is a constant mortification to the 
people of the United States, when they come to this city, to see that 
mutilated monument about which so much has been said, and so pa- 
triotically, this evening. I hoije something will be done to rescue 
that monument from its present condition, although I fear it is now 
a symbol of the condition of our Government. I ha'S'B said that all 
monuments represent something historical. I am not sure but I 
would vote for an appropriation either to finish the monument or to 
put it into some better and more classical shape. 

I have traveled somewhat and have seen some of those monuments 
which have come down to us from other ages and other epochs. I 
cannot but remember this evening the monument which I saw once 
in Rome to Titus, the conqueror of Jerusalem. On that monument, 
in the form of an arch, was represented all that could confir-m our 
Bible in regai'd to tlie siege of Jerusalem. It commemorated, as they 
supposed, in eternal marble or stone tlie conquest of that city by Rome. 

I am not thoroughly a believer in this obelisk which comes from 
Egypt, the simple shaft going up into the air to a considerable alti- 
tude and having very little significance. I should prefer some arch 
like that of Milan, or some temple of fame like that of Munich, or 
something like the arch of Titus, or the Arch of Triumph which has 
represented many historic memories for France.* 

But irrespectively of what the monument maybe, it belongs to the 
American people before our centennial to memorize something of 
our earlier and better days. What it may cost is for these gentlemen 
to determine and for the House to vote, but one thing is very sure, 
that the American people desire before their hundredth anniversary 
to have something significant in i-eference to George Washington. 
The other day in my city when the decoration of the heroes of our 
recent civil war took place, processions marched by and decorated 
the statue of our President, Mr. Lincoln, but not one tribute of flowers 
was placed on the statue of George Washington. Even Nero had a 
friend to lay a bouquet upon his grave. It is a sign, sir, of our de- 
cadence. And I do trust that the American people may do something 
wiser and better and kinder in this regard. 

But I rose principally, Mr. Speaker, to say that our American 
national metropolis is derelict in many duties. We should have dec- 
orated this capital. There is no taste as yet displayed according to 
the best tastes of mankind in much of the art of this capital. I have 
offered resolutions on this subject, and had them sent to the Commit- 
tee on the Library. They are buried there, truncated like Washing- 



LS"^ OF CONGRESS 




32 

ton's monument. I do not know, sir, but that wo ouj^lit m n...... .. ^ W 

motion and pass it to dismiss this Joint Committee on the Library 
who do so little — who do nothing except to give bouquets. 

The artists of America are interested in having something V)etter at 
onr capital to illustrate our national history and glory. We have 
nothing as yet comparable to what the other nations have at their 
capitals. We have rude art here as yet; and yet t) — ' 
from artists. I cannot tell you why, sir, because ] 
influences which prevail around the capital. 

But one thing is sure. Unless the American C( i: i 

nicest heed to something more aesthetic, somethi; i v 

something more historic, something more in the lin 't. 

they have hitherto done, our national capital will — -•S'^y 

demoralized that it ought to be moved out West. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. Would not New York be a better place for it? 

Mr. COX. My friend from Ohio suggests New York. New York is 
full of artists, and none are more eminent than gentlemen who have 
graduated from my friend's own State. I think the best artists in 
New York, including Mr. Ward, came from his own neighborhood. I 
am proud to recognize them as the first almost in their guild in New 
York. 

But, sir, from some influences whicli nobody knows, the kindliest 
influences perhaps, this capital has not been properly cared for in the 
line of art. And I only rose to-night for the purpose of calling the 
attention of the Committee on the Library and of the members of 
this House to the fact that we are disgraced all over the world by our 
utterly disgusting performances in the line of art. If you do raise 
this obelisk which comes from Egypt, a barbarian country that never 
had art, I do not believe it will succeed in impressing the Amer- 
ican people in a proper way with the virtues and the greatness of 
George* Washington. I would like to see something that w^ould give 
to the American people the idea in marble or in stone that we had 
once a nation and a race of heroes in the early days before my friend, 
the Delegate from this District, fought and bled and almost died for 
his country. I would like to have something done here to illustrate 
the greatness of our fight for independence. 

George Washington did not fight for liberty altogether, but for 
independence ; and independence in one sense is larger than liberty. 
Our ancestors never fought for liberty. They had all their liberties, 
and when the English Crown strove to take their liberties from them, 
they fought for independence. They bowed for many years before 
theEnglish Crown and the En Lclish Crown did not heed their i^rayera, 
though very submissive. But at ]v.st they struck for independence. 
And I would like to see some monument — not to liberty altogether, 
for George AVashington was himself a .slave-holder, but to independ- 
ence of foreign domination, and in all the relations which this coun- 
try bears to all the world. 

"Therefore, sir, I would hope when we consider this matter la the 
House in reference to an appropriation of money that we shall have 
all the eloquence that we have heard this night concentrated in favor 
of some mode, I care not exactly what, that will, before the centen- 
nial at least, relieve Washington City fnuu the disgrace of a trun- 
cated monument to the father of uur coniitrj'. 



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